Brandi Shearer is a cool indie singer who expresses her deep, dark feelings in a dusky alto, accompanied by her own demi-folk, part-rock, quasi-classical guitar work. A self-professed lover of "creepy and subversive" songs, she poses for the cover of Love Don't Make You Juliet with black paint under her eyes and fists taped, ready for a brawl.

Friday's Pick

A simple cover of the jazz staple "How Glad I Am" takes Brandi Shearer out of the darkness and into a happy place.
courtesy of the artist
hide caption

toggle caption

courtesy of the artist

A simple cover of the jazz staple "How Glad I Am" takes Brandi Shearer out of the darkness and into a happy place.

courtesy of the artist

To put it lightly, "How Glad I Am" seems like the unlikeliest of songs for the singer to tackle with any sincerity. The quietly exuberant 1964 hit by jazz chanteuse Nancy Wilson speaks of a love that "has no bottom ... or top." Surprisingly, the match is perfect. The simple ballad takes Shearer out of her creepy zone and into a romantic mood.

Shearer's voice remains soft and gentle throughout "How Glad I Am," as her guitar strums the major chords that function as the melody's stepping stones. As the song builds in intensity, her voice gathers strength and fake strings chime in, courtesy of a keyboard. But Shearer's dark side emerges, too, as the natural melancholy in her voice stands at odds with the lyrics. She may be glad, but there's always a bit of gloom just under the surface.